Rundi

Rundi, the peoples of the Republic of Burundi, who speak Rundi, an Interlacustrine Bantu language. The Rundi are divided into two main ethnic groups: the Hutu, the majority of whom have traditionally been farmers; and the Tutsi, the majority of whom have traditionally been cattle-owning pastoralists. A small third group, the Twa (Pygmies), are hunters and potters.

Regional variations of the Rundi language (also called Kirundi) include Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, although all are mutually intelligible. Rwanda (also Kinyarwanda), which is spoken in Rwanda, is also understandable to speakers of Rundi. Hundreds of thousands of speakers of Rundi reside in Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, mostly as refugee populations from Burundi. Some 6,000,000 people speak the language.

Bantu-speaking people of Rwanda and Burundi. Numbering about 9,500,000 in the late 20th century, the Hutu comprise the vast majority in both countries but were traditionally subject to the Tutsi, warrior-pastoralists of Nilotic stock.

ethnic group of probable Nilotic origin, whose members live within Rwanda and Burundi. The Tutsi formed the traditional aristocratic minority in both countries, constituting about 9 percent and 14 percent of the population, respectively. The Tutsis’ numbers in Rwanda were greatly reduced by...